Tomahawk
'''Tomahawk '''is a founding member of the Bone Soldiers and the group's second-in-command. History Tomahawk was born into a tribe of savage cannibals living in the ruins of Red Bank, New Jersey, on the shores of the Delaware River just south of the ruins of Philadelphia. The group mostly prayed on those that were passing by, but in the early 2200s, all that changed. Merchants began using the ruins just due north as a staging point while moving goods between New Castle, Delaware and Atlantic City, and the small tent city eventually blossomed into a full-blown trading post. Riverbend, as it became known, because it was nestled in a nook where the Delaware River bent, existed so close to a pack of savage cannibals because they had the protection of a ghoul with some major firepower. Petty Officer Noah Matos was a Ghoul who had been stationed in the area back during Pre-War days, when it was a naval base. He, along with many others, was an engineer that operated the League Island Crane, a massive crane that was integral in the shipbuilding efforts at the shipyard. Matos was in the crane when the bombs fell. The naval yard was targeted and the League Island Crane toppled, but did not fall. Matos survived, but found himself trapped in it. Exposed to radiation, he transformed into a ghoul. He eventually escaped from his industrial sarcophagus and transformed it into a heavily armed home, protecting himself from roaming raiders and other dangers with mechanized guns, flamers, and missiles. Matos protected the traders, and in return, they gave him whatever goods he periodically requested. The cannibals to the south made a few attempts to cross the Delaware and raid Riverbend, but all were stopped by the firepower that Matos in his crane had at his disposal. As had been the case for generations, Tomahawk eventually came into power, killing his father and eating his heart. Like his father, and his father before him, Tomahawk had eyes on Riverbend but knew that any kind of attempt to raid it would be folly. In 2245, a man named AJ Prince arrived in the ruins of Red Bank. Prince was a former Talon Company mercenary who had come north from the Capital Wasteland after leaving the group after refusing to listen to a woman commander. Like other outsiders, he was captured and held to be sacrificed and eaten, but unlike most others, Prince was extremely charismatic. While being held prisoner, he was able to sway his captors’ ears and gain an audience with Tomahawk. Tomahawk initially humored Prince in order to entertain himself, interested in playing cat-and-mouse with his prisoner before either killing him on the spot or sending him back to the stockades after getting his hopes up, but the conversation quickly changed as the tribal leader realized he underestimated his captive. Price could be useful to him. Tomahawk presented Prince with a task that he considered suicidal. The former mercenary had certain skills and a certain way about him that the cannibals did not. If he could travel across the river and eliminate the old ghoul that lived in and still operated the crane, it would allow the cannibals free access across the river, into Riverbend. If Prince could guarantee them safe passage across the river, he be given his freedom. He agreed, and Tomahawk released him to perform the task. The tribal leader was correct to guess that Prince would be up to the task, as he successfully crossed the Delaware, crossed into the ruins of the naval yard undetected, and killed Petty Officer Noah Matos. Incredulous but no less pleased, Tomahawk had his people prepare for war immediately. That night, they crossed the river and attacked Riverbend, slaughtering virtually every man, woman, and child. A notable exception were the gunsmiths of the Pistolvania Arms Company. From their compound in the ruins of the South Philadelphia Locomotive Works site, they repelled wave after wave of attackers. A parlay was eventually called for. Tomahawk was against a meeting, interested in throwing enough of his people at the compound until it fell but Prince convinced him to cease hostilities and see what the weapon makers could offer. Meeting with Samuel Stoltzfus, the leader of the smiths, Prince not only ended hostilities with the gun makers, but engineered a mutually agreeable truce: the cannibals would leave the gunsmiths alone and provide them with a de facto protection. In return, the smiths would produce weapons and ammunition for the cannibals, free of charge. It was in this moment that Prince became the leader of the cannibals and reorganized them into the Bone Soldiers. Members of his own tribe saw Tomahawk as the man who saw no value in their lives and Prince as the man that procured them an unlimited source of high-quality weapons. Though ousted from his position of power, Tomahawk remained in the group, acting as an advisor and confidant to AJ Prince. Though he worked with him, Tomahawk maintained a deep-rooted hatred of him that only grew as the years went on. Though not a schemer, he began playing the long game and planting the seeds for the elimination of his rival. In the 2260s, he saw the key to his plans in a young, charismatic, and deadly member of the group, a youngster by the name of Kenny King. King had been adopted and raised among the group after they raided a homestead and ate his parents and was particularly bloodthirsty. Beginning in the 2260s, he enjoyed a meteoric rise to power within the group, partially on his own merits and partially from Tomahawk pulling strings behind the scenes. In 2275, after Kenny raided a bunker belonging to the Followers of Einstein and recovered a cache of equipment, Tomahawk had the young main promoted to lieutenant and placed on the war council. It was there that he began whispering in Kenny’s ear, that AJ Prince was jealous, that AJ Prince was holding him back, that AJ Prince was old and getting soft and was going to eventually lose control of the Bone Soldiers. Kenny made his move in 2283, taking out Prince and naming himself leader of the group. Tomahawk conspired with him, eliminating forces loyal to Prince before the deed was done and the leader deposed. When Kenny took the reins of the group, he was unopposed and with Tomahawk at his side. The second-in-command thought that better times would be in store, but it soon became apparent that the even the best laid plans go awry. The Bone Soldiers have since stagnated into a state of hedonistic violence, with King Kenny more interested in fights and chems than raiding. With his increasingly erratic behavior, Tomahawk is now worried that he made the wrong move in eliminating Prince in favor of Kenny, and is beginning to vet other possible leaders for the group should he stage a coup against the man he put in power. Personality & Appearance Tomahawk is best known for the war paint that he almost always wears. Using blood and ash, he paints his face and long beard into a demonic visage to strike fear into his enemies and demoralize those that are opposing him. He is brash, loud, and confident. He has a big mouth and knows that he has the skills to back it up. Skills Tomahawk has a swagger that can influence those close to him. It isn't necessarily charisma, but when he is trying to be inspirational, or threatening, his combination of appearance and bravado can inspire or demoralize others. Equipment Tomahawk generally wears combat boots, military camouflage BDU pants, and either goes shirtless or wears a Kevlar vest with nothing under it. As is his namesake, he wears a tomahawk at his side, but generally prefers ranged weapons that pack more of a punch. He has been known to carry a variety of pistols, from a 9mm pistol to a .44 magnum. He is also partial towards using stun guns, especially when he wants to capture his opponent to be put into slavery or eaten at a later point in time. Category:Raiders